NextDecade to build LNG terminal in Cork

According to multiple sources, Texas-based NextDecade has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Port of Cork to develop an LNG import terminal at the port.

Under the agreement, NextDecade and the Port will work together on a joint project to build a new FSRU off the Irish coast and a related LNG import terminal on land.

NextDecade's proposed Rio Grande LNG export terminal at the Port of Brownsville would then provide up to 3 million tpy of LNG to the Ireland project.

NextDecade and the Port of Cork are planning a joint event in Ireland on 2 August to discuss the project and how it would diversify Ireland’s natural gas supply. The MoU commits NextDecade and the port to exclusive negotiations to develop the LNG import project.

The proposed Rio Grande LNG terminal would receive natural gas from the Eagle Ford Shale and the Permian Basin of West Texas.

As with two other LNG export terminals proposed for the Port of Brownsville, NextDecade's permit application remains under review by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and faces opposition from neighbouring towns, environmentalists and community groups.

NextDecade also has land picked out for another LNG facility in Texas City, and the company is working on a deal to go public through a merger with blank-check company Harmony Merger Corp.